SecondChances
by lunalovegood520
Summary: **READ CH. 4 Authors Note**Scorpius and Rose were best friends.That is, until Scorpius comes back from Auror training in America a changed man and he breaks Rose's heart. Now, three years later, he's in some deep trouble and he can turn to no one but Rose
1. Prologue: Leaving

It was a week after graduation when Scorpius appeared at Rose's house.

"Can we talk?" He asked.

"I didn't know you were coming over," Rose smiled and took a step closer to him to kiss him.

He caught her by the shoulders and gently pushed her back. "I'm sorry. I really need to talk to you."

Rose, slightly worried, nodded. "Of course."

"Do you remember those Auror training school applications I was filling out a few months ago?" He began.

Of course Rose remembered them. He had spent hours and hours pouring over the bloody things, asking Rose question after question about how he should answer each item. At the time, Rose had been ready to throw the damn things off the Astronomy Tower, but she knew how important going to a good Auror school was to him and restrained herself.

"Yeah, I remember them."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter. "I got this in the post today."

She grinned, grabbing it out of his hand and turning it over. Norfolk Auror Academy. She paused, her smile disappearing "Isn't this in America?"

He nodded.

Wordlessly, she took out the letter.

_Dear Mr. Malfoy,_

_We are pleased to inform you of your acceptance into the Norfolk Auror Academy…_

"You're going to America?" She asked.

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"About three years."

"There's perfectly fine Auror training schools in England, you know."

"None as good as Norfolk. I was talking to my father. He says it's the best and every Auror it produces goes on to do fantastic things. They go on to make a change. What they do _matter_."

She took a deep breath. She wanted to be happy for him. She _was_ happy for him. "This is important to you," she stated.

He nodded. "Are you okay with this?" He asked as he took her hand in his.

Rose felt her chest tighten. "We'll be fine," she said, taking a deep breath. "We can apparate and we can see each other constantly."

"We'll make it work," he said.

She nodded. "We'll make it work."

**

* * *

**

**[Three Years Later]**

She had gotten a job, thanks to her Uncle Bill, at Gringotts in the security department in the fall after she graduated. Though it wasn't something she thought she would be doing when she was at Hogwarts, she loved her job and she was fantastic at it.

There have been no burglaries, at least successful ones, in the past two and a half years. Though Rose knew it wasn't solely because of her, she liked to think that it was.

She walked alongside Ryan, her co-worker, as they went through their morning routine of checking each vault, seeing if everything was still secure.

"Why are you skipping?" He asked suddenly.

Rose stopped. "What?"

"You have this little bounce in your step."

She blushed, realizing that she had been, in fact, skipping. "Oh, well, I guess I'm just happy."

"May I ask why?"

"Scorpius is coming home today," she smiled. She loved being able to say that.

"The _boy_," Ryan nodded slowly, understanding. "I see you're excited."

"Yes," she continued to walk, trying to resist the right leg's urge to do a little hop each time she stepped. "I am excited." She smiled.

**

* * *

**

Rose had rushed home from work that day (Ryan told her to leave early, he'll make sure everything was okay before he left).

Rose and Scorpius had remained in touch for the better part of the first year he was gone. However, with her new job and his intense Auror training, it became harder and harder to see each other. Eventually, they had both decided it was best for them to meet up again when he returned to England.

Astoria, Scorpius's mother, had sent her a letter a month ago stating Scorpius's arrival date and telling Rose that he would meet her at The Leaky Cauldron around 7 that day.

Now, at 7:00, Rose waited at an empty table with a butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron. Her fingers tapped excitedly against her mug.

When he walked in, Rose's breath caught in her throat.

Standing up, she called out his name. "Scorpius!"

He turned and nodded rather stiffly toward Rose.

"Hi," Rose smiled widely as he took a seat across from her.

"My mother said you wanted to see me," he said, still serious.

Rose put her hands in her lap and squeezed her knees, a habit of hers when she was nervous.

"You're back for good?"

"Yeah."

"How was America?"

"Full of idiots."

She stared at him; his normally warm gray eyes were dark. She lifted a hand off her knee and moved it toward his hand.

He pulled his hands away and leaned back into his chair. "What do you want, Rose?"

She pulled her hand back, obviously hurt. "You."

He looked apologetic for a moment before he was serious again. "Rose," he said. "Things have changed."

"What exactly has changed?"

"Me," he said simply. "I've changed. It's not like I have time for an outside life, and if I did…" his voice trailed off.

"And if you did…" she said, urging him to finish his sentence, beginning to get mad.

"And if I did, I don't know if it would be you."

Rose was silent. When she finally spoke, she said, "Why the hell was I waiting for you then?"

"You shouldn't have."

She could feel her face getting red.

"It was your choice to wait for me," said Scorpius as stonily as ever.

"What are you saying?" She asked helplessly.

"I'm saying I don't want to be with you," said Scorpius.

Rose was silent.

"I have to go," he suddenly stood up. "Have a good life, Rose."

"And you're just going to leave like that?" She stood up and followed him, anger beginning to bubble up insider her.

He turned around halfway to the door. "Don't follow me."

"Fuck you," she said, feeling her anger burning through her. And before she knew what she was doing, she lifted her arm and punched him square in the nose, causing him to fall over. And without another word, she stepped over his writhing body and out of the Leaky Cauldron.

The cold hit her when she stepped out the door and her anger melted into something else. Her eyes burned with tears and her throat tightened. She fell to the ground, tears spilling over her cheeks as she sobbed uncontrollably. Her head fell into her palms and wondered exactly what how she went from feeling practically invincible to feeling this horrible just in one day.

**

* * *

**

**[Flashback, Hogwarts.****6****th**** year]**

"Sometimes I think I could love you forever," said Scorpius. They were lying on the grass in the middle of the Quidditch field on a sunny Sunday morning. Her head was rested on his chest and his arms held her in a tight embrace.

"What makes you think that?" she asked.

"The way you feel in my arms right now. The way you smell. This is a perfect moment."

Rose grinned and looked up at him. "You are truly one of the cheesiest boys I've ever met."

He grinned back at her. Then, he rolled her over on the grass, her body still pressed to his and his face centimeters away from hers. "I love you," he said again.

She rested her hand on his cheek. "I love you too."

He smiled, and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips.

**

* * *

**

Author's Note: So this little plot bunny would not leave me alone and I was inspired (with the help of the 7th movie) to start writing fanfiction again! So please, _please_ leave a review. They brighten my day :)


	2. 1: Coming Back

**Chapter 2 – Second Chances**

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for the reviews, story alerts, and favorites! They're always appreciated and they're what encourage me to keep writing. There's a bit of a plot change so I would recommend you quickly glance at the new summary :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, world, etc. used in this fanfiction, JKR, Warner Bros. does.**

**

* * *

**

**[Three Years Later]**

"Have you gotten the security reports?" Ryan asked.

Rose looked up from her desk. "What?"

"The reports. Apparently Bogrod dropped them off last night."

Rose stood up and searched through a stack of parchment. She pulled out a large envelope with _Security Reports_ written across the front in Gobbledegook.

"Why do they insist on writing these reports in Gobbledegook?" Rose complained. "It takes me forever to translate them."

"Well," Ryan pulled a chair up next to her. "I don't think they like us very much. When Gringotts decided to put wizards in charge of security, a lot of goblins got demoted or lost their jobs."

"It's been almost ten years since that happened. They should just get over it," Rose replied. She ripped open the envelope and smoothed the parchment out over her desk. She flipped through the pages of Gobbledegook until she reached the list of vaults in use. "These are the new vaults that were opened this week?" she asked, pointing to the underlined vault numbers.

Ryan nodded. "Shall we go and secure them?"

"Yeah," Rose said, standing up and picking her wand off the table.

Ryan and Rose left their offices and walked to the main floor of Gringotts.

They were walking through a mass of witches and wizards that were waiting to be helped when a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ caught Rose's eye.

"Hold on," She stopped walking.

"What's wrong?" Ryan stopped and looked back at her.

She held up a finger to him and walked up to the goblin holding the newspaper. "Do you mind if I see this really quickly?"

She grabbed it without waiting for an answer and stared at the front page.

"I was reading that!" The goblin protested.

She turned away from him. The headline read: _Scorpius Malfoy, esteemed Auror, caught by Dark Wizard_. And beneath it, there was a picture of Scorpius, screaming, being dragged away by a group of wizards whose faces were covered.

She scanned the story. Scorpius and his partner had gotten a message from a wizarding family that said about four wizards had broken into their house. Scorpius and his partner had rushed to the scene. His partner had gotten the family out and Scorpius had gone after the wizards who had broken into the house. He was outnumbered and dragged away. His whereabouts were currently unknown.

Rose took a deep breath. She turned back to the goblin after a moment. "Here," she said, handing the paper back to him.

"Thank you," he grabbed it back from her.

Rose pushed passed Ryan and started walking quickly toward the vaults. "Rose, what's wrong?" He asked, grabbing onto her arm. "Stop walking so fast."

She turned to him.

"What happened back there?"

"It was nothing."

He stared at her. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. It was nothing at all."

**

* * *

**

She hadn't seen Scorpius since that night at the Leaky Cauldron, and she wasn't too keen to change that. However, seeing him caught by dark wizards was not something she enjoyed either.

If it had happened two or three years ago, sure, she would have been happy to see that bastard's liver fed to dogs. But things were different now. She was at this point in her life when her family life and her work life were steady, and she had slowly put her hate for her old best friend aside.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ryan asked, later that day as they prepared to leave.

"I'm fine," Rose said.

During lunch, Ryan had gone out to find a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and had come back with sympathetic looks toward Rose.

Honestly, as much as she loved Ryan as a friend, she just wanted to smack him. She hated receiving sympathy from people.

**

* * *

**

That night, as Rose was getting ready for bed, she heard a knock on the door.

"Just a minute!" she called from the bathroom. "Shit," she said, quickly washing off her face wash and slowly (and painfully) peeling off the nose strip she was wearing.

Whoever at the door continued to bang loudly. Rose walked quickly to the door, ready to tell whomever it was off for being so bloody loud, but when she whipped open the door the words fell from her lips.

"Hey Rose," Scorpius stood at her front door.

Rose froze, completely caught off guard. Even though she didn't hate him anymore, she was nowhere near ready to _see_ him again, much less at her doorstep.

Slowly unfreezing, she crossed her arms around her chest. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

"Answer me."

"Did you see the _Prophet_ today?"

She nodded.

"Well, I escaped and I need someplace to stay… for a while."

"Are you bloody kidding me?" Rose asked in disbelief. "You think I would let you into my home?"

"Rose, please," he pleaded. "I have nowhere else to go. I can't go to my partner or anyone at the Ministry, they would find me immediately."

"And what makes you think I wouldn't turn you into them or something?" She asked.

"Because I know you," he said. "And you would be way too scared to go near these wizards."

"I'm a Gryffindor."

"And I'm Slytherin, yet I'm a lot braver than you."

"I see you've gotten better at the flattery," Rose said sarcastically.

"I apologize," he said sincerely. "Please, Rose, can I just come in? Please."

She sighed and opened the door wider and stepped aside so he could come in.

"Thank you," he said.

"You can sit down," she nodded toward her couch, her arms still crossed.

"I don't think I should. I'm kind of filthy."

She looked at him. He did look absolutely horrid. His blond hair and robes were matted with mud and his face was badly bruised, his lip practically cut wide open.

"Shit," she muttered to herself. She couldn't just turn him off into the street.

"What was that?"

She glared at him. "You can stay the night."

He swallowed. "I might need some … more time than just one night. I have to find these wizards and I have to remain hidden until I regroup. I'm sorry, Rose."

She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "Fine," she reluctantly agreed, "but you're taking the couch."

"That's completely fine with me," he said and he reached out to rest his hand on her shoulder.

She stepped back to avoid his touch. He withdrew his hand.

"I'll get you a blanket," she said and turned toward her bathroom to retrieve a clean towel and blanket.

**

* * *

**

"These might be a bit small for you," she tossed Scorpius a pair of clean pajama pants and a t-shirt a little while later.

"Are these yours?" he held them up.

She nodded. "They're a bit big for me."

He smiled. "I feel like this is normally the other way around."

"Scorpius," she said, sitting down on the one-seater across from him. "I'm letting you into my home so you can collect yourself. I don't think it's the best idea for us to be talking."

He sat down. "I understand."

"You can stay here to stay safe but nothing else. I leave for work in the morning. Try to stay out of trouble," she said. She then turned and walked into her bedroom, closing the door softly behind her.

Once her door was shut, Scorpius leaned back into the sofa. He had forgotten how much he had hurt her.

Suddenly remembering he was matted with mud, he quickly stood up to find that he had left streaks of mud on her tan couch. "Shit," he muttered searching through his robes for his wand. Finding it, he quickly muttered a cleaning charm and the brown streaks disappeared. He pocketed his wand and picked up the clean clothes she had given him and walked into the bathroom.

**

* * *

**

Rose woke up early the next morning to loud snoring coming from her living room. She had forgotten that he was one of the loudest snorers that have ever walked the earth. She sighed and rested her hands on her forehead.

She didn't even know how to feel about the fact that Scorpius, the very Scorpius that was her best friend for years and the very Scorpius that had crushed her heart three years ago, was sleeping on her couch.

She wanted to know what exactly had changed him in America. She wanted to know what made him say all those things and if he meant them or not. But in other ways, she didn't want to know the truth. Everything would just be easier if he stayed out of her life and she out of his.

She sighed and sat up in her bed, ready to get ready for work.

**

* * *

**

"You look like shit," Ryan observed when she entered their office.

"Thanks," she muttered, dropping her stuff to ground.

"Want some tea?" He held out a cup to her.

She looked at the cup and dropped into her seat. "Got anything stronger?"

"Sorry, just regular tea."

"Thanks anyways," she turned toward her desk.

**

* * *

**

Rose decided to work late that day, partly because Scorpius was probably waiting on the couch for her to come home and partly because she had a lot of work.

It was almost eight o'clock when she heard the door to her office open. She turned around to find a dark hooded figure walking toward her. She immediately grabbed her wand and pointed it toward him. "Who are you?"

The figure quickly took his hood off. "It's me, Rose," Scorpius said.

"What the hell, Scorpius?" she clutched her heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. What's with the cloak?"

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I had to stay hidden."

"Were you not hidden enough in my flat? There's something called doors and walls there that prevent people from looking in!"

"I'm sorry," he apologized again. "It's just that I kind of need your help, and you weren't home yet."

"How do you even know where I work?"

"My mother told me years ago."

"Oh." She wondered if he had asked his mother about her.

"I need your help," he repeated.

"With what?"

Scorpius took of his cloak and lifted one of the arms of his robe to reveal a particularly deep gash.

"Fuck," Rose leaned down to look at it. It was clearly becoming infected.

"I don't know what to do. I've never been good at the Healing charms. In fact, it's the only thing I barely passed on my Auror exams."

"Why didn't you show me this yesterday?"

"I figured I could fix it myself. But when I tried, I kind of just … made it worse," he finished sheepishly.

"Of course you did," she muttered. "That's _exactly_ like you, Scorpius. Thinking you can do something when you can't." She inspected it. "We have to go back to my flat."

He nodded. After she gathered a few necessary things they walked outside so they could apparate back to Rose's flat.

Once they were safely inside, Rose took out her wand and muttered a charm.

He looked at the cut. "I don't see a difference."

"I just disinfected it," she said. "I'm going to get you some cream to put on that." She walked to her bathroom and came out with a white tub of purple cream.

She placed his arm across her lap and took a bit of the cream on her finger and rubbed it lightly across the cut.

"It's cold," he commented.

She nodded, moving his arm off her lap. "Yep."

"Thanks," he said.

They sat like that for a few moments, watching the cream settle into the cut.

"What happened?" She asked, talking about the cut.

"They just went a little overboard on a little 'torture-the-Auror' game they played." He pulled his sleeve down.

Rose frowned, suddenly tense. "What did they do to you?"

"Just a few minor hexes, nothing like Cruciatus or anything. They mostly just hit me. This one git just got a little knife-happy."

"Is the rest of you okay?"

"I have some bruises, but I'm fine."

Rose looked at his beaten up face, suddenly concerned. "Scorpius, you have to be honest with me. Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?"

"I can't go to a doctor," he said.

"Don't be _ridiculous_, Scorpius," Rose said, annoyance replaced her concern. "If you need a damn doctor, go see a doctor."

He put a hand on her arm to silence her. "I'm fine, Rose."

She cleared her throat awkwardly, moving her arm out from under his hand.

"I'm sorry, Rose," he said suddenly, looking up at her. "About everything."

She looked away. "I really don't want to talk about this."

"I know you don't, but I need you to hear me apologize for everything. Everything I said and did that night. It wasn't right."

She was silent.

"You know that was a hell of a punch," he said, smiling slightly. "Practically knocked me out. I was bleeding everywhere."

"You deserved it."

"I know I did," he said. "I deserved worse."

She was silent again. Finally, she spoke. "I appreciate the apology."

"Do you think we could ever go back to being friends?" he asked hopefully, after a moment.

"I don't think so," she quietly admitted. "What you said that night—"

"What I said that night wasn't true," he interrupted. "I need to explain."

She held up her hand, suddenly feeling sick. "I don't want to know."

"You don't want to know the truth?"

"I honestly don't," she said.

"Why?"

"Don't you see, Scorpius?" she said loudly. "Don't you see that I'm finally getting over you and it's easier for me to think what you said that night was true? That way I can move on with my life."

Scorpius's chest tightened.

"Do you understand?" she asked, looking at him.

He took a deep breath. "I understand."

**

* * *

**

**Author's Note: Again, hope you enjoyed the chapter! And what made me get this chapter out so fast was your response toward the first chapter! So please, if you have time, leave a review!**


	3. 2: Friends again?

Chapter 3

Rose had woken up for the first time in two days without hearing Scorpius's almost unbearable snoring from the living room. At first, she didn't really realize anything wrong, but after a few more minutes of silence, she suddenly shot up in her bed, concerned, throwing her legs over the side and getting up.

When she opened her door, she noticed a note attached to the wall beside her bedroom door.

"Shit," she said, snatching up the note, written in Scorpius's handwriting.

_Went out. I'll be back soon._

Seriously? He was going to do the vague note thing? While in hiding and highly wanted? Rose angrily crumpled up the note in her hand and walked out her front door, taking her coat with her.

What an _idiot_.

**

* * *

**

"Dad, what do you mean?"

"I mean, no one has heard from Malfoy at all. We're doing our best to find him," Ron replied.

"He hasn't been in contact with anyone here?" Rose demanded. "What about his partner?"

"Langton is heading the team that is looking for Malfoy, but he's had no luck yet." Ron sighed. "Rosie, darling, I think you need to go home and get some rest. I'll let you know if we hear anything."

"Can't you get more men on the case or something? This should be a _priority_. Something could be happening to him right now," she said heatedly, a flash of a dark wizard wielding a knife over Scorpius flashed into her head.

Ron leaned back in his chair and stared at Rose. "I thought you didn't care about this boy anymore, why are you worrying?"

"I'm not worrying and I don't care," she said. She _was not_ worried. "It's just … I feel …"

What did she feel? It sure as hell wasn't _worried_. Just troubled as to where a beneficial wizard to the wizarding community was at the moment.

"Rose, go home," Ron interrupted her thoughts. I'll let you know if we hear anything, but it's not going to be likely. As much as I hate to admit, Malfoy is talented wizard. He can take care of himself."

**

* * *

**

When Rose opened the door to her flat, she heard a crash from the kitchen. Shutting the door quickly behind her, she ran to the kitchen, where Scorpius stood, trying to balance three jugs of pumpkin juice in his hands.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

Scorpius turned toward Rose and smiled, setting the jugs down on the counter. "You're home."

Ignoring his smile, Rose marched up to him and hit him – hard – on the arm.

"Bloody hell, woman!" He shrieked, rubbing his arm. "What is it with you and hitting me?"

"What is it with you and just disappearing?" Rose asked.

"I left a note!" Scorpius immediately defended himself.

"A note that said absolutely nothing! For all I know, you could have gone back to your captors to get even and have been getting tortured all over again!"

He stopped and stared at Rose, smiling.

Rose frowned. "What?" she snapped.

"You were worried."

"I was not."

"You were totally worried about me."

"I was not!"

He laughed. "You were."

"Was _not_," she emphasized. "Don't make me hit you again!" She raised her arm. She had forgotten how _irritating_ he was.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Fine, you weren't worried about me."

"That's better," Rose said. She looked at the brown paper bags filled with groceries that were littering her kitchen, and she furrowed her brow. "Where were you?"

"I was at the grocery shop."

She stared at him in disbelief. "At the _grocery shop_?"

"I felt bad for eating all your food, so I figured it was the least I could do."

"The Ministry is out looking for you like crazy and your captors are most definitely looking for you, and you leave my flat to go _grocery shopping_?"

"I'm not stupid," he said. "I had polyjuice potion."

"Oh, so you expect me to believe you were just carrying around polyjuice potion coincidentally?"

He nodded and reached into his pocket, taking out a vial. "I always carry around polyjuice potion."

"Of course, because everyone just carries around polyjuice potion," she said sarcastically. She paused. "Wait. Whose hair did you use? You've had access to nobody's hair for two days except…" She trailed off, putting two and two together.

Scorpius smiled sheepishly.

"You used my hair?" Rose asked. "Are you crazy?"

"I prefer genius rather than crazy."

"Where did you even get it?"

"You left your brush in the bathroom. I just took a few strands of your hair out."

"So you were me? You were just walking around in public as me? Do you know I consider that a violation of _privacy_? What were you wearing? You didn't _look_ at anything, did you?"

Scorpius started scooting toward the door of the kitchen. "I'm getting rather uncomfortable with all these questions." He said, before turning around and running into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

"Did you look at something?" Rose shouted loudly. "You saw something, didn't you? Scorpius Malfoy, answer me!"

He opened the door slowly and stuck his head through the crack. "You didn't tell me you got a tattoo on your hip."

Rose let out a shout of frustration and reached into a bag of groceries and pulled out an orange. He quickly shut the door just in time as the orange collided with where his head had just been.

**

* * *

**

"It's crazy out there," said Scorpius later that afternoon, referring to the thunderstorm that had just rolled in.

Rose ignored his comment, not quite sure if she had forgive him, and continued to layer lunchmeat on bread.

"Need help?" he hopped onto the counter beside her.

"Stop trying to be cute and get off my counter," she pointed the knife she had just gotten out at him.

He hopped off, grinning.

Rose reached the knife into the jar of mustard and spread it onto the bread. When she finished putting the sandwich together she handed it over to Scorpius.

"Lunch is a sandwich?" He asked, looking at it. "Gee, you're a fantastic host, Rose," he said sarcastically as he took the sandwich.

"Be grateful," she said, taking two more pieces of bread out of the bag and started to make her sandwich. "And I'm not a _host_. You're just taking advantage of the fact that I'm the last person whoever had kidnapped would look to find you."

He didn't reply. There was another loud thunderclap, causing Scorpius to jump. He shuddered. "I hate thunderstorms."

She glanced over at him, reminded of the time, during their sixth year at Hogwarts, she walked into the school library to find Scorpius practically huddled in a corner, hugging his knees. She smiled.

He looked at her. "Why are you smiling?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, continuing to make her sandwich. "… Just memories."

He smiled. "The infamous sixth year thunderstorm?"

"Something like that," she replied glancing at him.

"We always had our best moments in corners of a library."

She blushed and looked at him, "I wasn't thinking about _that_."

"No, Weasley, not _that_," He smirked. "I was referring to how we met. But it's nice to know where your mind's at."

She blushed and ignored his last comment, her hands busily working on spreading mustard on the slice of bread she held in her hand.

**

* * *

**

**[Flashback]**

The summer before Second Year

Scorpius didn't know why the hell he was crying. But there he was, sitting in the corner of a dumpy little bookstore crying like a six-year old boy when he was twice that age!

And the last thing he expected, as he sat curled up, crying, was Rose Weasley appearing around the bookcase, her arms filled with books.

When she saw Scorpius she let out a little "Oh!" and her eyes widened.

Scorpius scowled and turned his face to the wall so she wouldn't see his tears.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" She asked curiously.

He quickly rubbed his face with one of the sleeves of his robe. "None of your business, Weasley," he snapped.

Rose frowned, suddenly annoyed. "Well if you're going to be _mean_ about it, I'll just lea—" She suddenly stopped. "Are you _crying_?"

Scorpius quickly gave his face another wipe and turned himself toward the wall even more. "No."

Rose sat down where she was, several feet away from where Scorpius sat. She set her books beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Didn't I just say it was none of your business?" Scorpius scowled even more.

"You know," Rose said. "My mother tells me that sometimes when people make faces, Merlin decides to charm their faces to stay like that permanently."

"That's stupid," Scorpius replied, but he dropped his scowl.

Rose shrugged. "It's just what my mother says."

"Well your Mudblood mother obviously doesn't know what she's talking about," Scorpius retorted.

Now Rose scowled, suddenly standing up. "Never mind, then, Malfoy. I'll leave you alone with your horrible self," she snapped, bending down to pick up her books.

Scorpius suddenly turned away from the wall and as Rose turned around he said, "Wait!"

Rose turned around, still obviously enraged.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius said, looking down. "I didn't mean to call your mother a …" his voice trailed off "_you know what_."

"Well you should learn how to be nicer and control your language," she replied, still irritated.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

Rose sighed and walked closer to Scorpius. "Why were crying?" She asked.

"My dad," he said, looking down again. "He's a bit much sometimes. I don't really want to talk about it."

She nodded. She was close with her parents, but she could understand what he was talking about. "What are you doing _here_?"

"I come here a lot."

Rose was surprised. She didn't know Scorpius well, but based on what her father told her, his constant trips to the Headmistress's office, and the fact that she hadn't ever seen him carry a book, much less read one, this was the last place she expected him to go to 'a lot'.

"Really?"

He nodded. "What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"I come here a lot, too," she said. "I like books."

Scorpius nodded, looking at the pile of books she had been carrying.

"Are you done crying?" Rose asked after a few moments of silence.

Scorpius sniffled. "Yeah."

She prepared to get up to leave but stopped when Scorpius put his hand on her arm. "Can you stay?"

Rose looked at him curiously for a moment and then sat back down. "Of course."

He looked down to hide his smile but not fast enough, for Rose caught a glimpse of it. And as she leaned back against the bookcase behind her, she found herself smiling too.

**[end flashback]**

**

* * *

**

"Where are you going?" Scorpius asked, lounging on Rose's floor, watching the Muggle TV Rose's grandfather had bought for her for her 20th birthday. They had both finished their sandwiches in less than ten minutes, and now, Rose was walking around, getting ready for something.

She had walked between her bathroom and bedroom at least ten times in the last five minutes and Scorpius's head was beginning to hurt from the sound of slamming doors.

"I'm going to a security conference with a friend," she walked into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. Two seconds later, she walked out.

"In this weather?" He asked.

"We're flooing there," she replied, walking into the bathroom.

"You should really consider connecting your bathroom to your bedroom," Scorpius said as she walked out of her bathroom yet again. "Or at least consider not slamming the door behind you every time you walk into a room," he added under his breath.

"That's ridiculous. Why would my bathroom need to be connected to my bedroom?" Rose walked into her bedroom, shutting the door.

Rose walked out, again, about two seconds later. She held up two different pairs of earrings. "Which ones?"

Scorpius looked up from the TV. "The gold ones," he said, pointing.

"Really?" Rose frowned. "I rather like the silver ones."

"Then the silver ones," Scorpius said.

"But you just said you liked the gold ones."

"I do," he said.

Rose frowned. "Then why should I wear the silver ones?"

"Because you just said you liked them better!"

"Fine, fine," she said, slipping the red ones into her ears. "I'll wear the gold ones. No need to shout." She flashed him a smile as she walked back into her bedroom and shut the door.

Scorpius returned to the television, smiling to himself. He had forgotten how much he missed Rose.

**

* * *

**

About ten more trips from the bathroom to the bedroom later, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" said Rose, running out of the bathroom.

"Well obviously, seeing as I'm in hiding," said Scorpius sarcastically. He smiled.

Rose rolled her eyes and waited for him to hide before she opened the door.

"Hey, Ryan," she smiled as she opened the door.

_Ryan?_ Scorpius asked himself from the hallway closet where he was hiding. _Who the hell is _Ryan_?_

"Ready to go?" Scorpius heard him ask.

"Yep," came her reply. He then heard footstep walk toward her fireplace.

"Ladies first," said Ryan, gesturing toward the fireplace.

Scorpius gagged from the closet.

"See you there," said Rose before throwing a pinch of floo powder on the fire and disappearing into the emerald flames. From the closet, Scorpius heard another whoosh shortly follow. They were both gone.

Scorpius sighed and he opened the door to the closet and looked around. _Now_ what was he going to do?

**

* * *

**

"Excited?" Ryan asked as they walked down a wide hallway toward the conference room.

"Why wouldn't I be? Workshops covering stronger charms and big, scary three-headed guard dogs. Sounds fun," she said sarcastically. She paused, then said. "Actually, I take my sarcasm back. I forgot I actually enjoy security seminars."

Ryan laughed. "That makes two of us."

They reached the conference room and when Ryan opened the door, they were both met with a blaring beeping noise. Rose covered her ears. "What's going on?" She shouted to Ryan, whose hands were also over his ears.

"I have no idea!" He shouted back. "I have a feeling it's supposed to be some kind of horrible torture, though."

Inside, red lights were flashing and wizards were buzzing around a room full of seats facing a large stage, which was lit up in, surprise, red lights.

Rose stopped, looking around. No one else seemed fazed by the horrible noise that seemed to be hinder her ability to think. "Do you think it's… decoration?" She yelled to Ryan.

Ryan made a face. "Wouldn't that be going a bit far? This is supposed to be a boring security convention!"

"Everyone!" A voice magically boomed out over the hall. "You're currently listening to a state of the art, Magical Bedell sound alarm system."

"It's a presentation," said Rose, in disbelief. "A bloody presentation."

"Bloody crazy security wizards," Ryan took his hands down when the noise died down.

"Yeah," Rose nodded. "Crazy."

**

* * *

**

Rose and Ryan were watching a presentation about how there were steps being taken to invent doors that could stun intruders as soon as they touched the doorknob when Rose felt a hand on her shoulder causing her to jump.

"Rose Weasley?"

She turned to find a twenty-something, tall wizard with short brown hair stooped behind her.

She nodded. "Can I help you with something?" She whispered, not wanting to interrupt the presentation.

"I work in the Law Enforcement Department at the Ministry. I need you to come with me."

Rose's heart began to beat and she squeezed her knees. This had to be concerning Scorpius in some way. "Why?"

"This is an emergency. We'll be happy to answer any questions, but we need to talk to you immediately."

Rose frowned. Maybe they had some information about his captors? "Fine." She stood up.

From behind her, Ryan also stood. "I'm going with you."

"That won't be necessary," the wizard from the Ministry said.

"It's fine," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "I'll see you on Monday."

"Bu—," he began to protest.

"I'll see you Monday," she repeated. "Don't worry."

He hesitated. Finally, he said, "Be safe," and reluctantly sat back down.

The wizard led her out the auditorium. Once they were outside in the hall Rose crossed her arms. "Show me your badge."

The wizard sighed and reached into his robes and pulled out his Ministry Law Enforcement badge out. "Satisfied?"

"Not quite. What is going on?"

"It's concerning a friend of yours, Scorpius Malfoy."

Rose's arms tightened. "He's not my friend."

"Look," the man said. "While looking for his whereabouts, we came across some … information in his desk."

"Information?" asked Rose, furrowing her brow.

"Yes, some documents hidden in a charmed drawer in his desk. It took a while to get it open, he had some advanced magic keeping it shut, but we got through and we have reason to believe that Scorpius is working for the wizard that supposedly caught him and had faked the entire kidnapping."

What? Rose felt numb. That's not possible.

"We need to know if you've been in contact with him."

"I haven't been in contact with him for three years."

He stared at her, looking deep into her eyes. "We need to know the truth."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

The wizard sighed and then motioned for her to follow him.

Still numb, she forced her legs to move. He led her outside where another wizard was waiting for her, a more familiar face.

"Albus?" she greeted her cousin with confusion.

"Hi Rose," he smiled, though the rest of his face remained solemn.

"What is going on?"

The wizard who had brought Rose outside spoke. "We felt that we needed someone who you trusted to tell you the truth." He looked at Albus.

"What's happening, Al?" Rose asked, her heart beating even faster.

"We, the Ministry, believe that Scorpius was recruited by a dark wizard trying to bring down the Ministry of Magic while he was in America doing his Auror training. He's been working as a double agent ever since.

Rose's breath caught in her throat. This wasn't true. It _couldn't_ be true.

"I'm sorry, Rose."

"That makes no sense," she said, convinced the Ministry had gotten something wrong in communication or _something_. "If the kidnapping was fake, as he said," she pointed to the other wizard, "why would Scorpius _escape_?"

Albus swallowed. "We think it's because he's after you."

Rose froze. "What?"

"He's after you, Rose. He's trying to get you to trust him again."

"Why me? I'm _nothing_."

"You are – were – close to him and you have powerful connections. Your father is an _esteemed_ and honored Auror and your Uncle, my father, is at the Head of the Ministry. He had orders to get closer to you again."

Rose's throat tightened.

"We need to know if he's contacted you," Albus said seriously.

Of course. Why else would he go to _her_? Some mumbo jumbo rubbish about how he had _nowhere_ to go. That fucking bastard. He was using her. And he was working for a dark wizard? She guessed it was true what they said. Every son becomes his father. Everything made sense.

Rose stared at Albus and said, very calmly. "I know where he is."

**

* * *

**

Author's Note: Okay a twist and a cliffhanger :)

I hope you enjoyed! I want to thank everyone who has reviewed - they're greatly appreciated :)

I'll be trying to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, but I feel like it's going to be a hard one to write (I've got some ideas up my sleeve) and I'm super busy for the next two weeks (several performances and finals). So please, _please_ leave a review. They'll make me want to update faster!

Also, I would like some feedback on the flashback, such as the placement of it (in the chapter), the quality, and if you guys, as readers, want more information on Rose and Scorpius's background.

Lastly, I'll be tweaking previous chapters constantly, but I'll let you know if I make a big change. Such as right now, I would recommend you glance at Chapter 1 again if you read it before November 26th (ish)

Thanks again for reading!


	4. AUTHOR's NOTE

**Author's Note**

**Hello everyone! First of all, I want to thank EVERYONE who has read this/left a review/added to favorites and/or story alert, it is really appreciated! I'm so happy with the response to this fanfic, especially since it's one of the first fanfictions that I have the will to finish :)**

**I'm sorry to all who have added this fanfic to their story alerts, as this is NOT a chapter update. However, I was in the process of writing the 4th chapter when I got stuck by a giant, unmovable plot boulder and I honestly can't find a way around it. SO, I am in the process of a rewrite, it's basically the same exact plot but with some things explained earlier so when I get to the point where Scorpius is revealed to be on the 'bad guy's' team I have certain things explained already.**

**The first chapter is complete in the rewrite, but I'm not certain if I'm satisfied with it yet and won't be posting any of the chapters until I reach the point where I was in this fanfic. **

**However, for those who are curious or extra helpful, I would love to send the preliminary first chapter by you guys and get some solid opinions on whether this fanfic or the rewrite is better. (Because, if the rewrite is just crap, then I will, somehow, find a way around the plot boulder and simply continue with this.) If you could email me (or leave a review I could reply to) saying something quick like 'send me the first chapter!' I will send you it and hopefully get some ideas on where I will be going with the rewrite.**

**Thank you so much! And sorry, again, for the author's note, I just felt that I should let you know where I am in this fanfiction and also to get some reader's opinions before I make the final decisions.**

**lunalovegood520**

**Email: lunalovegood520[at]gmail[dot]com**


	5. AUTHOR'S NOTE 2

**Hey guys! I just wanted to add another chapter for all of those who have this on alert/favorites to let you guys know that the first chapter of the rewrite is up and is on my profile page.**

**Chapter 2 is done and should be posted up in a few minutes. **

**Thanks again for all the support with this story! I really have high hopes for the rewrite! So please, leave a review for the rewrite and let me know your thoughts!**

**lunalovegood520**


End file.
